Bremen were giving as good as they got in the opening exchanges and it was not until midway through the first half that Thomas Müller had the first sight of goal, but his tame effort was easy for Pavlenka. The Bremen goalkeeper then made an instinctive save to turn a Serge Gnabry effort wide with his foot as Bayern started to gain the ascendancy, but the Czech Republic No.1 was not put to the test again with Robert Lewandowski getting in just one snapshot, which missed the target shortly before half-time.

Lewandowski almost immediately tried to beat Pavlenka inside his near post after the restart and the same combination brought the same result as Pavlenka moved into the firing line, and more was to follow after Milos Veljkovic was shown a second yellow card, leaving Bremen to defend with ten men for the final half-hour. Defend they did with Müller squandering a chance seconds before he was replaced by Franck Ribery. When Bayern's goal came, it was from an unlikely outlet with Süle's effort taking a telling deflection off Davy Klaassen to wrong-foot an unfortunate Pavlenka. It was cruel on the Bremen custodian, but Bayern's 22nd shot of the game earned all three points as Bremen were beaten after failing to score for the first time all season.

Niklas Süle's shot took a wicked deflection off Davy Klaassen, who had scored in his past three Bundesliga fixtures. - imago images / MIS

Match stats

Franck Ribery is unbeaten in his 22 career meetings with Werder, scoring 12 goals.

Corentin Tolisso was back in the Bayern matchday squad for the first time since 15 September 2019, when he tore his cruciate knee ligaments.

Veljkovic was the second Bremen player to be sent off against Bayern this season, after Moisander saw red in the reverse fixture.

Süle's four Bayern goals (two this season) have all come at the Allianz Arena.

Bremen failed to score in a competitive game for the first time this season.

The Green-Whites have lost their last 17 Bundesliga matches in a row against Bayern, and are winless in their last 21, dating back to 20 September 2008.